A Drop of Rusted Blood
by ashoutinthedark
Summary: A step away from a life i cannot return to, a step towards a life i do not understand Chapter 1 edited, and resubmitted, chapter 2 to come soon.
1. a step into a new life

_Greetings and welcome to one more story from the depths of my mind. I don't think I need to say anything about not owning this, or not having rights to that, I think we can all figure out that part. I will say, that for artistic purposes, all ages have been moved to the late teen years. Enjoy._

The scream of a hawk pierced the air as it gracefully circled the small town below it. Many of the residents looked up to watch her float effortlessly in her majestic flight. Several squinted against the sun, trying to get a better look at the bird, but most just moved on about their business. The hawk circled the village twice more, screamed once, and floated out of view back into the forest.

"Weird," a boy with wildly spiked blonde hair mumbled as the bird of prey disappeared.

A young girl with long, pink hair stood next to him, also staring after the bird. "Never seen one like that before." She shrugged and turned her attention back to the water flowing under the bridge.

"That's because that type of bird does not exist in this part of the world."

Both the blonde boy and the pink haired girl spun to face the third member of their group, a tall boy with jet black hair.

"Whatcha mean?" the blonde boy asked, "It's right there, how can it not exist in this part of the world?"

The girl glared back at the blonde boy, "Naruto, you moron, he means that someone brought it here, and it most likely got away from them."

The tallest boy spoke up again. "No, it didn't get away, it's searching, but not for itself. I think it's actually scouting the place out for whoever her master is."

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The falcon dove steeply through the trees, and landed on an outstretched arm, her claws digging carefully into the leather brace. Shrieking quietly, the bird nuzzled her own face against her master's shoulder.

"So, you found a village?"

A quiet coo from the bird.

A hand gently ran through the birds feathers, ruffling them slightly. "Good girl."

The bird warbled softly, and hopped her way up onto my shoulder. I turned my stride towards where she had fallen from the sky from, and moved quickly towards whatever village that she had found.

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Standing on the threshold of a bustling town, I quickly took a glance around at my surroundings. My jeans and shirt, covered by a brown leather duster would stand out like a sore thumb here, but I really didn't have much of a choice. I had been without my supplies for quite some time, and I desperately needed to find a job so I could afford more. Maybe a quiet contract on the side, or a few days of under the table work and I would be gone into the wilderness again, away from where I could be found.

Walking through the marketplace, I took note of how the people dressed and acted. A good many of them had a headband on, each one bearing the same twisted mark. A mark that looked like some kind of distorted leaf.

And as I noticed them, they certainly noticed me. Their eyes followed my every move, and some of them even had the gall to tail me for some time. I sighed, and strolled on, looking for somewhere that gave a notion that they were hiring.

A little kid tugged on the length of my overcoat. "Umm…mister?"

I looked down at the kid.

"Strangers aren't supposed to be in this side of town. If you are here to put in a job, it's over there."

The kid was pointing towards a rather large building where there seemed to be a decent amount of foot traffic moving in and out of. I nodded with a smile to the kid, turned on my heel, and made my way towards the place he had pointed out.

The doors were a lightweight material, but something belied a hidden strength that I couldn't quite fathom behind their paper weight. I shrugged and moved into where the main room seemed to be. Several people, all wearing the same metal guard, some around their forehead, some around their neck, even one wearing it as a belt, sat around behind tables in the room.

Two groups of people stood in the room as well, each was a group of four. One consisted of a blonde boy, a pink haired girl (which I unwittingly stared at for a moment, amazed by the pigment of her follicles), a serious looking young man, and one older than the rest, their guardian or so it seemed. The other was also a group of four, a tall boy wearing a long grey trench coat, buttoned to the top, a boy with wild, brown hair and a dog sleeping on his head, and a girl with black hair. Their guardian was a beautiful woman in a white outfit. The one dark haired girl seemed to keep stealing glances at the blonde boy in the other group, but he was completely oblivious to the fact. Truth be told, he was more interested in complaining about how easy his 'missions' that he had been assigned to were, and how he needed harder ones.

I smirked, and walked up to one of the tables.

"How can we help you?" the young man behind the table asked.

"I'm looking for a job."

The young man nodded back. "That's what most of you people are here for, now will you be putting in a class A, B, C, or D job?"

I shook my head. "I don't think you understood what I meant, I'm actually looking for work, not request for it for myself."

The young man stared at me.

So did everyone else in the room, a quiet snicker could be heard from a few of them.

I glanced around the room, taking it all in.

The man behind the table could barely contain himself. "You travel all the way to a ninja village and ask them to hire you?" he snickered in between his words.

I smiled back. "And just what makes a ninja so special that they don't think they would ever need outside help?"

Another snicker. "Man, you don't get it do you? We are the ones that are being hired here, not offering job positions, you probably couldn't even last for more than thirty seconds against one of our least experienced fighters, much less handle the missions that we send them out on.

Now it was my turn to smirk. "You know, you should read a book before you judge it."

The person sitting next to the man I was addressing looked over to me. "American, right?"

I nodded, slowly, my eyes locking with his.

He laughed. "Americans can't fight."

I blinked.

He blinked.

A wicked looking pistol had appeared in my hand from seemingly nowhere, and I was holding it to the metal of his headband.

"So we can't fight?"

He stared carefully at the gun. It was like no weapon he had ever seen before. Sure, it was a simple handgun, as far as he was concerned, but the tooling and patterns on the side of it were as intricate as they were extravagant, and they all seemed to flow in a pattern. My overcoat fluttered ever so slightly with the movement, and three silver throwing blades could be seen holstered against my upper thigh

Blades of differing sizes appeared in the hands of each and every person in the room, and a collective glare was aimed my way.

I grinned sadistically.

The oldest of the blonde boy's group took a step towards me, glaring. He went to lift his foot for a second step, and stopped cold.

My arm was fully extended, pointing his direction, but nobody had even seen me move. A second pistol had appeared in my opposite hand, and it was held directly at his own forehead, my frown stating it very clear that he had better not move.

My wicked grin turned back towards the first person I had addressed. "Now, about that part where I couldn't fight."

Kakashi stared at this new face in his town. How was this child, who had no name, and no record in this country, that fast?

"Alright jerk!" a voice shouted from behind me, "It's time you learn your place in my village!"

I turned calmly, letting both of my arms fall to my side. The blonde boy was pointing an accusing finger at me, seething.

I shrugged. "Nobody else here has been able to move, you think you're different little one?"

He shook in his anger, but I merely stared bored back at him.

"Don't take us lightly!" he howled, and unleashed a flurry of small shuriken at me.

My sadistic grin came back, and my left hand moved in a blur, both pistols somehow disappearing from my hands. When it ended, I was holding each and every shuriken he had thrown at me in one hand. Seven of them, to be exact. My eyes looked carefully over them, and my head shook slowly.

"Such shoddy craftsmanship," I muttered, "you would think you could expect better from a ninja village."

I dropped the useless throwing stars to the ground, and pulled one of the three throwing blades from it's place on my leg, holding it up for all to see. The work on it was incredible. The handle was silver laced, and intricate patterns followed up and down the length of the blade.

The pink haired girl blinked, then fearlessly walked towards me.

I snapped my gaze towards her, but she continued on.

"You're not going to hurt us." she stated. "If you were, you would have already done so."

I smirked, so she had me pegged.

She stepped up closer, drawn towards the throwing blade. "Those patterns are not just patterns, are they."

I shrugged, and slipped the throwing knife back into its place on my leg.

"I told you," I said, looking back towards the stubborn man behind the desk, "I'm here for work, if you have none for me, let me know so I can move on. I'm only looking for one job, maybe two at the most, and I'll be gone again, so don't worry about me jumping in on your action."

I stood in a relaxed posed, my hands hanging limply at my side.

The blonde kid rushed forward again, a growl uttering from his throat, only to be stopped in his tracks by a petite arm.

My ears perked.

"Sakura!"

The pink haired girl held her arm in his path. "Look at his stance."

My fingers twitched.

"He's dropped his guard on us!" the boy exclaimed.

I took a good long notice of the third boy in their group, and the way his eyes flashed across my stance. "He's not relaxed."

The blonde's eyes widened, looking back at his partner.

"His stance is perfectly balanced in every direction, and his arms are curved ever so slightly. I'd be willing to bet that his guns are in shoulder holsters, from the way he holds himself. A slight hunch forward, back on his heels to keep his balance, but still add the extra loose fabric to the front of his jacket to conceal the bulge of the weapons.

Sakura performed a classic double take. "PERFECTLY balanced?"

The quiet partner nodded. "No strain on any muscle, but the opportunity to move in any direction with equal ease."

"He's no ninja…"

I looked at the one who made the comment, the oldest of that little group, probably their leader, or instructor, or something like that, they kept calling him sensei, so I could only assume. A smirk crossed my face, and I spoke up once more. "Well no kidding, I gave up on that style a long time ago, too jerky, too much wasted movement."

The six youngest in the room glared, but it didn't seem to phase the older group.

"Sir…I'm sorry, we cannot trust out our missions to anyone other than our own village." The man I had first assaulted had finally found his voice.

I nodded, "Now was that so difficult?"

I turned to walk out, but was stopped by a gentle hand on my shoulder. "You know, we could give you a job…if you were to join the village."

I looked back into the woman's strange red eyes, but felt her sincerity in spite of them.

"My name is Yuuhi Kurenai," she said, offering me her hand, "and I would be honored to be your sponsor into the academy."

This time, I performed the double take. "You'd what?"

"I would sponsor you, if you were to join our academy."

Two of her group snickered, while a third one just stood there. I took special notice of the silent one, her eyes more than anything else. They were lonely and sad, almost like someone had just killed her puppy in front of her.

I smiled, slowly. "I'll except, but on two conditions."

Multiple eyebrows raised throughout the building.

"One, do not ask me about my past. Two, I wish to take the exam out of the academy immediately. This is not my first village, and I know what the academy is all about."

Kurenai nodded. "I will set you up for the next Genin exam, and will let you know when it is to be taken, but remember, if you do not pass, you do have to return to the academy until you can learn our ways."

"Fair enough," I responded. "But I warn you, if word gets around of my location…it could cause trouble."

The woman smiled, "Trouble in a ninja village? Doubtful."

I snorted, but followed her out the door as she left. "The next Genin exam is tomorrow, actually, if you feel that you can handle it."

"Bring it on."


	2. Sorry

Well, it happens to everyone, but this little jaunt of mine came to a close faster than I expected. I have officially put all of my fan writing on hold indefinitely. Both my brother and I have put some things together, and we're both writing on a completely original piece now, and it has taken up just about all of my spare time working on it.

Again, I apologize to those of you who have been following my work, but for now, everything is taking a hiatus until further notice…maybe forever, I don't know right now.

_Hear What Cannot be Said, A Drop of Rusted Blood, _and _The King of Chaos_ are hereby discontinued.

You can find the work that my brother and I are working on over at fictionpress.

you decide to drop in and see what we've been working on.

Till later!

-The Dark One


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